If you were on your death bed ...

... and you were given the chance to relive one match, just one, which one would it be?

You'd be able to live through the whole day as if it were real ... the drive, the pubs, the lads and the match. You'd be as you were, on the day, and it would all happen exactly as it did back then as if you'd no idea what would happen.

And then you'd be gone.

I'd take the Di Canio 3-0 at Newcastle ...

... it was a three day jaunt having been offered a last minute ticket and having to leave our lass alone in Italy where we were on a touring holiday.

It was worth every penny and all those hours on trains, planes and automobiles

 

That is a tw*t of a question to just pick one when there has been at least 8 over the last 50 odd years. Will need to come back to you on that one.

 

I've been mulling it over for weeks mate.

There are so many, as you say, and it's hard to knock so many back ...

... the play off semi at SJP, Luton for the Keane title winning game, the Rowell 4-1, etc.

For me it boils down to the people I was with and the effort it took to get there.

 

Sunderland 2 Coventry 0 in February 2007.

I was pregnant and very poorly. My Mam had been talking to my Dad and saying I deserved a special treat to cheer me up. She was thinking of a spa day or something. So my Dad went out and bought tickets for me and him to go to the match. We were in the front row of the East Stand. I had been told to rest by medical staff so I'd been warned several times by my Mam not to go mental.

Then Carlos Edwards scored an absolute screamer (almost as good as that Burnley one!) and he ran over to celebrate where we were. We were out of our seats and jumping around like lunatics as you do!

Then the match resumed and my Dad just looked at me sternly and simply said "we'd best not tell your Mother about this!"

A good afternoon with just me and my Dad, a good goal and a funny moment. Perfect

 

Wonderful, that truly brought a tear to my eye.

 

I'm going to have to give this one some thought..

 

This was surprisingly immediate for me.

6-0 v Milwall, Russell wonderland. Unexpected, but I’ll never forget looking around and the wall to wall joy on every face in the Roker Wing.

I was about 10, was just an amazing day.

 

I was in the Fulwell End for that one, having driven up from Mansfield ...

... people were in heaps on the ground

 

73 Cup final

 

Was absolute mayhem and disbelief really, we were the form side but nobody seen it coming, I only remember bits of the game, Scott penalty and Russell 4th when he cut inside and hit, but I remember faces, reactions, smiles and absolute joy. It was beautiful.

 

I gave my ticket to my uncle Mervyn who was a supporter with 40 years behind him.

He'd given me a Charlie Hurley rosette when I was 6 years old so I thought he deserved the ticket ...

... still hurts now tbh.

 

Has to be a cheat THE 1973 CUP RUN in its entirety, realise it covered NINE games but the stand out ones would have to be Man City at home ,Arsenal Semi , and the Wembley final V Leeds all were memorable, so to separate them is impossible so I am going to CHEAT because thankfully I was at them all - MEMORIES!!!

 

Wembley 73....life's highlight as a Sunderland supporter.
The FA Cup final was the event of the year in those days....very few live matches on TV....and my team was in it!

 

I was in the roker end for the Millwall game

 

For me I think I would choose when we played Everton in a rearranged fa cup tie at Roker Park. The atmosphere in the Fulwell end was amazing moreso because I was there with my dad and even he was getting carried away joining in with the chants, I'd never seen this any time watching the match with him.....it felt surreal.
Walking home after the match it was pouring with snow, by the time we got home we were like arctic explorers but I didn't care because I felt on top of the world.

 

Playoff semi 1990

 

The Di Canio 3-0 is up there, but I'd maybe say the second leg of the man united semi final, mint day from start to finish and what an atmosphere

 

Wonderful mate.

I flew back and had two days in a Manchester hotel with my son.

From the moment we arrived in town the Man Utd supporters were on the back foot ...

... it was a magnificent performance from the Sunderland supporters inside and outside the ground.

 

February 2007 when we beat Derby 2-1 at home, got the feel then that we would go up..

Liam Miller's deft little backward header in the final seconds and the ground went wild.. Their equaliser by Barnes mind earlier was a peach of a goal....Oh happy days..

Started that season as a season ticket holder sitting alone in the upper concourse... ended it in a wild party of fanatical Sunderland support...If only they had all thought like me eh..

 

Going back a bit here but home game V Preston 63/64 season, both teams at the top of the league and Alex Dawson their big centre forward was giving it large during the pre match build up, it was on the same day as the Grand National which started 3.15 I think, anyway it was 0-0 when the race started and we were winning 4-0 when the race finished, full house and the crowd were going crackers.
I was 14 then and never forgotten it. Happy days.